Count your blessings! IMO, we live in the best area of the country. Our region escapes the frequent outbreaks of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in the Plains, Midwest and Southern States. We don’t have to deal with worsening drought and frightening fires that exist in the Rockies and the Southwestern States. Plus heat waves are much less intense and short-lived here. We get to enjoy occasional breaks of refreshing air from Canada like last night when suddenly the dewpoints dropped almost 25 degrees in less than one hour. The ugly jungle humidity vanished providing us with a beautiful final day of June. Meantime, yesterday, a barrage of bad boomers caused chaos, destruction and death from the Ohio Valley through the Nation’s Capital and the wrenched, relentless heat continues to sear, bake and fry the southern Plains to the Tennessee Valley to the Gulf Coast States and the Carolinas. For example, Atlanta, GA broiled at 106 degrees for the highest temperature ever recorded there. Unreal! Oh, yes, we are very lucky indeed and don’t you forget it!

Thankfully, today’s temperatures failed to reach predicted highs of 92-96 and that is a good thing. The air aloft was not as warm as anticipated and with some high cloudiness around, the surface temperatures missed by about 5 degrees most places. The other good news is the humidity remains low with dewpoints in the 50s over most of the region except the Cape where the push of real dry air ceased. As a weak boundary slips southward from northern New England and some slight atmospheric support arrives from the northwest tomorrow, a few scattered showers and storms cannot be ruled out later in the afternoon and evening. The humidity will remain relatively low and temperatures nudging or slightly exceeding 90 are quite likely with 80s to near 90 on Cape Cod with a westerly wind at 8-18 mph. The tide will be high around 9:30 in the morning with a low tide just before 4 in the afternoon. The risk of showers and storms increases a bit on Monday as additional minor perturbations approach from the west-northwest and an upper trough of low pressure amplifies thereby ramping up the instability.

Looking ahead, drier and more stable air should create a pleasant Tuesday with a sunny to partly cloudy sky and highs near 85. The 4th of July is somewhat uncertain as a ribbon of showers and storms across the Midwest into NY and PA get too close for comfort. Presently, I am hopeful that much of the action will stay west of the region but I am not highly confident of that materializing. For now, we should be prepared for some scattered showers and storms Wednesday afternoon and evening. Perhaps subsequent forecast cycles will become more defining. After that, later in the week, it appears that building high pressure to the south will pump the hotter air back into the Northeast. I expect temperatures reaching 90 by Thursday and exceeding it on Friday and Saturday. Signs point to a band of showers and thunderstorms a week from tonight into early Sunday with cooler and drier air to follow for the first part of the second week of July.

Joe Joyce will deliver his AccuWeather Forecast in the morning and I shall follow later in the day.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and your vacation on this 4th of July week!